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e. w. CHRISTOPH/ CARBURETING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED 1Au.31.19|1.

1 ,3 1 4,046 Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

A TTORNE YS.

sn'rns PAT v OFFICE.

CABBURE'I'ING Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

Application filed January 31, 1917. Serial No. 145,819.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. CHRIs'roPH,

a. citizen of the United States of America,

mixture,

residing at Warehouse Point, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain ,new and useful Improvements inCarbureting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved carburetin means and moreparticularly to means or heating the constituents of the explosivemixture prior to carburation and for maintaining the carbureted mixtureat a proper temperature until it has been delivered to the engine.

An object of the invention is to provide a carbureter wherein the fuel,air, or fuel thereof maybe heated to andmaintained at a predeterminedtemperature.

Another object of the invention is'to provide a carbureter, wherein thefuel, air, and fuel mixture may be heated to and maintained at apredetermined temperature, and heat insulated means to convey the heatedmixture to an engine without changing the temperature conditionsthereof.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following descriptionand will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

The invention, in an illustrative embodiment is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is" a sectional elevation ofthe carburetor;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of an ex plosive engine showing theconnections between the latter and the carburetor; and

I Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical view of-the electrical connections betweenthe various elements shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to these drawings in detail and particularly to Fig. 1;reference numeral 5 designates the float chamber of the carbureter,which is supplied with fuel from an inlet pipe 6 and delivers fuelthrough an outlet pipe 7. Any of the well known means for governing theinflow of fuel into chamber 5 may be provided, as well as any otherusual carbureter parts which may be found necessary or desirable. Themechanism within chamber 5 has not been illustrated since it isunnecessary to an understanding of the invention.

The pipe 7 extends from the float chamber 5 to a pipe 8, of somewhatlarger diameter,

or all three, or any combination which supplies a canal 9 formed in thewall of the suction pipe 10 of the carburetor. The suction pipe 10, inthe embodiment illus trated, is of elbow form and mounted vertically inthe pipe is a suitable nozzle 11,

.which, as indicated in Fig. 1, is in communication with the describedcanal 9. The specific structure of the nozzle is immaterial to anunderstanding of the invention, and has not, therefore, beenillustrated. Surroundmg ipe 7 is an electrical heating coil 12 whic maybe of any suitable construction. For example, the coil may be embeddedin a suitable insulating composition, indicated conventionally byreference numeral 13, or the coil may be constructed in any other wellknown manner, as desired. The heating element 12 is adapted to heat and,if desired, to

vaporize the fuel prior to its c'arburation with, the air, and,since'the fuel may be changed from liquld to gaseous form before itsadmission into suction pipe 10, the pipe 8 and canal 9 have been shownsomewhat larger than the pipe 7.

The heating element 12 is thermostatically controlled so that thetemperature of the fuel may be maintained constant. Any suitable meansmay be provided to control the current passing through coil 12 inaccordance wit the temperature of the vaporized fuel. As an illustrationof one operable means for accomplishing this result, the device shown inFig. 1 may be used. A tube 14 closed at one end and filled with asuitable liquid, such as alcohol, for example, is connected to a gage 15of any suitable type which is adapted for operation by the expension ofsuch liquid. The closed end of tube 14 is disposed within the canal 9and, as indicated 1n,Fig. 1, the tube may pass through a suitablestufiing box in the wall of pipe 10. The liquid within tube 14- expandsunder the heat of the vaporized fuel and its pressure actuates thepointer 16 of the gage in the well known manner. The tube 1 1 thusconstitutes the sensitive element of the thermostat. An adjustable contact 17 is provided in the path of pointer 16 and the engagement of thelatter with the contact closes an electrical circuit to control theheating element in a manner to be later described.

Suitably mounted near the inlet to pipe 10 is another electrical heatingelement 18 which may be constructed similarly to the element 12.Preferably the material within heated.

which the coil is embedded is formed with a plurality of radiating fins19, since by so doing the air passing by the heating element 23 areprovided as a thermostat for coil 18 in a manner analogous to thatheretofore described.

The coil 12 is arranged (by suitably adjusting the contact 17) to heatthe fuel to a predetermined temperature, and this temperature ismaintained substantially constant by thermostatic control. The coil 18is arranged to heat the air to a predetermined temperature which is alsomaintained substantially constant by similar means. The fuel, prior tocarburation is heated to a temperature at which it is best vaporized andthe air to a temperature at which it is best carbureted with thevaporized fuel. The two constituents, therefore, mix under idealconditions, and a thorough carburation of the constituents is obtained.

In order that the ideal temperature of the mixture thus obtained may befixed or maintained until it has been drawn into the engine, the suctionpipe 10, and the intake manifold 25 of engine 27 to which pipe 10 isconnected. as indicated in Fig. 2, are covered with suitable lagging 26,such as asbestos, for example, or any other suitable non-conductor ofheat. This arrangement will overcome an external influence upon thecarbureting system, such as, cold air which is normally blown across theintake manifold. To further insure the fixing and maintenance of propertemperature conditions for the mixture during its travel through pipe 10and manifold 25, one or more thermostatically controlled heatingelements may be provided in these members. Thus, in Fig. 1, a heatingelement 28, similar to the element 18, is mounted centrally in pipe 10at a distance above nozzle 11. A sensitive element 29 is connected to agage 30, as heretofore described, and 31 and 32 indicate the pointed andadjustable contact member of the gage. I

Referring now to Fig. 3, the electrical circuits for effecting thethermostatic control of the heating elements will now be described. Oneterminal of each heating element is connected to one terminal of abattery 35 or other suitable source of electro but is heated directly bythe' motive force. The other terminals of elements 12, 18, and 28 areconnected to contacts 36, 37, and 38, respectively, and the otherterminal of battery 35 is connected through a switch 39 to each of threecontacts 40. Armatures 41, 42, and 43 normally close circuits throughbattery 35 (when switch 39 is closed) to the heating coils 12, 18, and28 by connecting the contacts 36, 37, and 38, respectively, to thecontacts 40. Thus,'the coils are normally energized and currentcontinues to flow until the desiredtemperature of the medium heated by.the coils has been reached. At

such time, the pointers 15, 22, and 31 engage the contacts 17, 23, and32 and close circuits to solenoids 45, 46, and 47, respecti ely, througha battery 48 or other suitable source of electrical energy.

Each pointer 31 is connected to one terminal of battery 48, and theother terminal of the latter is connected to one terminal of each of thesolenoids. The other terminal of solenoids'45, 46, and 47 are connectedto the contacts 17, 23, and 32, respectively. The solenoids 45, 46, and47 are arranged to lift the armatures 41, 42, and 43 and open thecircuits to the heating elements 12, 18,

and 28 until the pointers move away from their con-tacts. Thus, thefuel, air, and the carbureted mixture may be heated to and maintained atthe desired predetermined temperatures.

The operation of the carburetor will now be briefly described. Beforestarting the engine 27, the switch 39 is closed and the heating elements12, 18, and 28 are energized. The fuel will be heated to the desiredpredetermined temperature, and this temperature is made, by adjustmentof the thermostat for coil 12, that at which it has been found byexperiment that the fuel is best vaporized. Thus, as the engine isstarted, heated and vaporized fuel maybe drawn through the nozzle asdistinguished from the cold liquid fuel obtained with the usualcarbureter. The air drawn into pipe 10 is heated as it passes theelement 18 to a temperature at which it has been found by experimentthat it will be best carbureted with the fuel. The heated air and fuelmix above nozzle 11 to form the explosive mixture and the latter is,therefore, formed under ideal conditions. The mixture, thus obtained, isdrawn to the engine through heat insulated pipes so that the loss byradiation is minimized and the mixture is maintained at the desiredtemperature by heating elements in these pipes. One only of theseelements for heating the mixture has been illustrated, but it is to beunderstood that as many additional elements may be employed as isnecessary to maintain the mixture at the proper temperature until it hasbeen delivered to the engine.

The thermostats controlling the heating elements function to keep themediums heated by the respective elements at the proper temperatures,and this result is obtained irrespective of weather conditions or otherexternal influences. It is to be understood that the heating elementshave suiiicient capacity to heat the different constituents to theproper temperature under the most severe conditions. With less severeconditions, the heating elements will be energized intermittently, theenergization being controlled thermostatically as described.

It willthus be seen that a carbureter has been provided wherein the fuelmay be heated to a proper temperature for vaporization and the air maybe heated to the proper temperature to secure the best results in thesubsequent carburation with the vaporized fuel. Furthermore, the propertemperature of the ideal mixture thus obtained may be maintained so thatthe mixture is delivered in the desired condition to the engine. Thepresent invention is characterized among other things in that automaticmeans are provided for independently controlling each heating element,so that each medium may be kept constantly at the desired temperature. I

The scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claim.

What I claim is- The combination with an engine, of an intake pipetherefor rovided with an air inlet, means to supp y fuel to said pipe,whereby fuel and air may mix to form an explosive mixture, means to heatthe air to a redetermined temperature prior to its admixture with thefuel, means to heat the fuel to a predetermined temperature prior to itsadmixture with the air, whereby each constituent of the fuel mixture maybe separately heated to that temperature best calculated to effect aproper mixture, means to independently control each heating means tomaintain the res ective mediums heated by the latter at substantiallysuch predetermined temperatures, each 'of the heating means beingcapable of performing its function at all times, and means to maintainthe mixture at a substantially constant temperature until it'isdelivered to the engine.

GEORGE W. CHRISTOPH.

